US Secret Service testing face scanning app to probe, stop threats

WASHINGTON – The US Secret Service has begun using a face-scanning mobile phone application similar to a tool that federal immigration agents have for months wielded to identify people as part of a mass deportation effort.

The Secret Service made a deal to use the technology in May and recently began rolling it out to a small group of uniformed officers, according to an agency official and government documents described to Bloomberg News by another US official.

Like the tool used by immigration agents, the Secret Service’s new app, called Sentry, uses artificial intelligence in an attempt to identify people.

An officer using it scans a person’s face or fingerprints with their phone’s camera, and the app compares the images to the contents of vast government databases, said the officials.

They spoke on condition that they not be identified because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

The deal illustrates how the agency charged with safeguarding government leaders is seeking the help of advanced technologies amid heightened fears of political violence.

It also signals the widening adoption by law enforcement of a facial-recognition tool that has drawn criticism from privacy advocates.

In response to questions about the app, Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn said the agency has investigated 40 per cent more threats in 2026 compared with the same period in 2025 and intervened nearly 10 times more with people who may have mental illness.

“These trends underscore the need for law enforcement at all levels to adopt responsible, forward-looking approaches that leverage emerging technologies and modern threat assessment capabilities to identify and mitigate risks before they escalate,” Quinn said in an e-mailed statement.

“At the same time, these efforts must be balanced with a commitment to protecting privacy, civil liberties and information security.”

For instance, Secret Service officers using the facial-recognition app are mostly required to seek a person’s consent first, according to the agency official, who spoke on the condition that they not be named.

So far, just 25 Secret Service police officers based in Washington have been equipped with the facial-recognition app, part of a pilot programme to determine whether to deploy it more broadly to help investigate and stop threats, according to the agency official.

Unlike the dark-suited agents who closely guard the President, these officers wear uniforms and mostly protect government buildings, including foreign embassies and the White House.

The Secret Service finalised an agreement for the app on May 18, the officials said.

That is less than a month after a gunman opened fire at a Washington charity dinner in what prosecutors say was the latest attempt to kill US President Donald Trump.

The app was built on the same technical infrastructure – much of it belonging to Customs and Border Protection – and uses many of the same databases as a similar tool, called Mobile Fortify, used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, both officials said.

All three agencies are part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Secret Service’s version of the app draws on the State Department’s database of passport photos, among other biometric and law enforcement databases, the officials said.

Immigration agents’ use of Mobile Fortify drew national attention over the past year, especially during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis.

Amid protests over fatal shootings by ICE officers, the app was criticised by city residents, Democratic lawmakers and civil rights advocates, who condemned it as an invasive and error-prone surveillance technology.

Some critics worry that such tools will continue to spread among federal agencies and to state and local law enforcement.

“We’re seeing the creep start, and I’d be very concerned about how far this is going to go,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s speech, privacy and technology project.

“This is a stunning power, and a power that lends itself to a kind of checkpoint society that we purport to abhor here in the US.”

At the Secret Service, the tool will be used to scan a specific individual, not an entire crowd indiscriminately, said the agency official.

Agency staff must complete training before using the app, and it will always be used in combination with other tools and sources of information, the official said.

Photos and data that the Secret Service collects through the app will not feed back into the databases queried by ICE agents using their version, the official said. BLOOMBERG